From the Echo  3rd October 2008

CHAFFORD Hundred rail station has been picked as the first to benefit from a £1.2m investment by train operator c2c. The company is investing the cash in new self service ticket machines which are being installed at all stations on the network from this week to improve customer service and help minimise ticket ques.

43 machines at 26 stations are being installed over the next few months. The first station to benefit from these new machines has been Chafford Hundred with all other stations following closely in quick succession.

The new machines include a collection facility which will allow a customer to buy a ticket at home and pick it up from the station, a more reliable on demand ticket purchase and a new credit card reader which will not retain cards.

Talking about the new machines, Hugh Jennings; Head of Retail for c2c said: "We're delighted that the new ticket machines are being installed replacing our old machines which were becoming unreliable.

"Customers can expect a much better functionality from the S & B machines and a very significant improvement in reliability with an inbuilt online fault reporting system which will minimise any problems leading to a machine closure. The machines are very user friendly so customers shouldn’t experience any great difficulty using them however, our fully trained staff will be on hand to assist in the event of any difficulties."